Liquor prohibition: Is Gujarat really a dry state or a tippler's paradise?

On paper, Gujarat is tough on prohibition. On the ground, it is a different story. Liquor is freely available. So much so that it is delivered to homes.

On December 31, 2009, Rajiv Patel, a former Indian National Karting Championship winner and art enthusiast, along with a group of 100 friends and supporters, assembled on a busy road in Vadodara, Gujarat's cultural capital, to raise a toast against a pet peeve: prohibition. Police raided Patel's house that night. They found 10 bottles of beer. Patel and his father spent a night in lockup.

On paper, Gujarat is tough on prohibition. On the ground, it is a different story. As anyone who has had a tipple or two (or more) in Gujarat would tell you, liquor is freely available. So much so that it is delivered to homes. The booze-delivery system is similar to pizza delivery: it is fast and free.

Free Flow

Last week, Arjun Modhwadia, state Congress president, turned the spotlight back on the subject when he said: "Liquor has become cheaper than water in Narendra Modi's Gujarat" — a potshot at Modi's alleged inability to tackle drought.

Patel couldn't agree more: on the liquor part, that is. "Liquor availability is as good as power supply in Gujarat," he says.

Prohibition was imposed when Gujarat was carved out from the state of Bombay in May 1960 to respect Mahatma Gandhi's views on alcohol. There are no bars or pubs in Gujarat. But booze is Invitee No. 1 at birthday parties, marriages and festivals. With greater economic prosperity, people now need a mere excuse to drink.

How so? There is a legal way: avail of a permit from the home department on medical grounds, yes, medical grounds. This way, a 'patient' can consume up to five bottles of liquor a month by paying an annual fee of nearly `4,000. The rub: only those who are 40 years or older are eligible for the permit. Visitors too can apply for a temporary permit.

Even so, people prefer to consume liquor indoors or in cars — there is only so much boldness in Gujarat's tipplers. This has lent a code name for alcohol: Vitamin A. Many can't do without a daily dosage of Vitamin A from "sources" (the code name for bootleggers).

The illegal way is only a tad more complicated. Gujarat shares its borders with Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Truckloads of liquor are smuggled from these states. An army of bootleggers who divvy up the big cases ensures the distribution.

Of course, bootleggers are in cahoots with authorities from within Gujarat and neighbouring states. It helps that liquor is cheap in Union territories such as Daman and Diu. You have to be really unlucky to invite the attention of authorities. Say, you are caught, the punishment is no more than confiscation. And breath analysers are unheard of in Gujarat.

Dire Consequences

Even so, restrictions on liquor have consequences. Hooch tragedies — deaths due to consumption of spurious liquor — are legion in Gujarat. The most notorious is the incident in July 2009, when nearly 148 people lost their lives in Ahmedabad.

In 2011, a report by a four-member panel of experts who probed the tragedy squarely blamed the unholy nexus between police and bootleggers and largescale corruption in the city. The police had in its possession a list of 467 notorious bootleggers but looked the other way, according to the report. The reluctance of the police to arrest such bootleggers is reflected in this statistic: between 1999 and September 2009, 70,899 prohibition cases were registered but there were convictions only in 9%.

It is not hard to see why bootleggers flourish. Many tipplers cannot afford the so-called Indian Made Foreign Liquor. Hooch, of course, is cheaper. One has to shell out only `10-20 for a 200 ml pouch of transparent concoction.

All the same, the Gujarat police seize liquor worth `100 crore every year. But that is a fraction of what slips in. Police officials say it is not easy to nab bootleggers. These people have embraced innovations with gusto: "They are no longer shabbily dressed men who conceal bottles wrapped in newspaper," said a police official. Even well-groomed women and children are roped in to transit liquor in SUVs.

Prohibition also takes a toll on the exchequer. A senior government official estimates that if one compares Gujarat and Karnataka based on the similar population numbers, the Gujarat government is losing not less than `10,000 crore a year.

That said, prohibition will not be lifted in a hurry in Gujarat. The paradox — abundance of liquor in the face of restrictions — has caught the interest of filmmaker Rahul Dholakia. "I found it fascinating that country's fastest-developing state has prohibited liquor but the business is still worth thousands of crores," says Dholakia, who made the controversial Parzania on the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Dholakia says it is fascinating to see Gujaratis drink. "People drink to get drunk in Gujarat. And it can be even adulterated booze," he says. Where is he going to find the booze during production? Not tough, he says.

Patel, meanwhile, continues his "one-man army" fight against prohibition. He moderates a forum called 'We Do Not Need Prohibition In Gujarat' on Facebook. It has nearly 6,000 participants. Not a big number, but a start alright.

A Tippler's Guide To Drinking in Gujarat

Good news: there are no dry days in Gujarat

But bootleggers have their hands full during festivals

Plan in advance, procuring liquor after 8 pm is not easy

Be flexible about a brand; remember, liquor is prohibited in Gujarat

Prices shoot up during festivals and there are too many for a tippler's good: Holi, Kite Festival, Diwali, Navratra Dance Festival etc

A bootlegger is finicky about references

Once rapport is established, you will get SMS updates

Check seal of a bottle, nevertheless

Beer commands the highest premium

Do not mind if Gujaratis blend cola with scotch, they have a sweet tooth

Party animals are not welcome. Please drink quietly

There is nothing called an unfinished bottle in Gujarat; if you still haven't heard, it's prudent to leave no trace of evidence

Last but not the least, wrap a bottle in paper before you dispose it of